Archive for the ‘Hasbara’ Category

1939 – The War That Had Many Fathers by Gerd Schultze-Rhonhof (Author)

… The author, a career General-Major in the West German Army, has meticulously researched the German and British archives, and paints a devastating picture of an endless series of mistakes made by ambitious, unimaginative and ignorant men in many countries, and an endless series of small steps culminating in a horrifying catastrophe. Those whom we thought were heroes are revealed to have been stupid and psychopathic villains, and those whom we thought were villains are revealed to have been sincerely trying to do the best they could for their nations and the world. …

A government-convened international conference on anti-Semitism in Jerusalem on Thursday issued an action plan calling for Internet censorship as a remedy for anti-Jewish sentiment. ….

Convened by the Foreign Ministry and the Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Ministry, the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism (GFCA) is a biennial gathering bringing together Jewish community leaders, civil society representatives and diplomats to discuss ways to grapple rising levels of anti-Jewish prejudice. …

the GFCA called upon the EU and national governments to adopt a formal definition of anti-Semitism that would include “unambiguous reference to attacks on the legitimacy of the State of Israel and its right to exist and Holocaust denial as forms of anti-Semitism.”

Moreover, the EU and its member states should agree on standard mechanisms for the monitoring of anti-Semitism and review their laws to “ensure an adequate legal framework and law enforcement instruments for combating anti-Semitism” as well as applying existing legislation more proactively. …

… a secret hasbara handbook written for The Israel Project by star Republican marketer, Frank Luntz. The oddly-named Global Language Dictionary (pdf) is a veritable goldmine of arguments, strategy, tactics. At 116 pages, it’s not for the faint of heart. But anyone who wants to get inside the head of the Israel lobby must read this document. …

… Netanyahu gets the best of both of Adelson’s worlds — his powerful propaganda machine in Israel and his campaign cash here in the United States. Combined, they allow Netanyahu to usurp American foreign policy as he manipulates an obliging US Congress enamored of Adelson’s millions, pushing it further to the right on Israel and the Middle East. …

… Netanyahu gets the best of both of Adelson’s worlds — his powerful propaganda machine in Israel and his campaign cash here in the United States. Combined, they allow Netanyahu to usurp American foreign policy as he manipulates an obliging US Congress enamored of Adelson’s millions, pushing it further to the right on Israel and the Middle East.

There you have it: Not only is this casino mogul the unofficial head of the Republican Party in America (“he with the gold rules”), he is the uncrowned King of Israel — David with a printing press and checkbook instead of a slingshot and a stone. All of this came to the fore in Netanyahu’s speech on Tuesday: the US cannot determine its own policy in the Middle East and the majority in Congress are under the thumb of a foreign power.

Like a King Midas colossus, Sheldon Adelson bestrides the cause of war and peace in the most volatile region of the world. And this is the man who — at Yeshiva University in New York in 2013 — denounced President Obama’s diplomatic efforts with Iran and proposed instead that the United States drop an atomic bomb in the Iranian desert and then declare: “See! The next one is in the middle of Tehran. So, we mean business. You want to be wiped out? Go ahead and take a tough position and continue with your nuclear development.”

Everything you need to know about Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress Tuesday was the presence in the visitor’s gallery of that man. We are hostage to his fortune.